Rockets hit Libya’s only operating airport in Tripoli

BY Libyan Express Apr 21, 2018 - 11:43

Rockets hit Libya’s main airport and damaged a plane as it was waiting to take off early on Thursday, a security force said, underscoring fragile security.

One rocket hit an Airbus 320 of state-run Libyan Airlines, and others struck the arrivals hall at Tripoli’s Mitiga airport at around 2 a.m.(0000 GMT), but no one was injured, a spokesman for the Special Deterrence Force (Rada) said.

Photos circulating on social media showed a tear in the tarmac and holes in the wing and body of the plane.

Armed groups fighting for territory and power have regularly attacked the city’s transport hubs – undermining the government’s efforts to persuade diplomatic missions to return to the capital.

Mitiga is the only operating airport in Tripoli. Fighting in 2014 put the main international airport out of service.

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